THE LOW-DOWN ON THE TOWN Impudent, uncensored account By C. Castle

What's in a name?

Better yet, what's in a title? That's a question candidate Susan Cloke will have to answer.

Cloke contributed $100 to Councilman Paul Rosenstein's campaign in 1996. But it's not the donation that's striking, it's the title listed next to her name. Developer.

Developer?

In this month's special election, Cloke is called a Community/Policy Planner on the sample ballot. In fact, Cloke says she's owned her own consulting company and done the same kind of work for several years.

Cloke says she had no idea she was listed as a developer on Rosenstein's campaign contribution form. Someone else, she says, must have filled out the information for her.

Still, Cloke didn't seem to mind. "I'd like to develop housing," she said. Problem is, housing is not what most people in Santa Monica think of when they hear the word "developer."

Traffic snarls on 4th Street, parking shortages on Main Street and back-ups in the mid-city area that not even a heavy-duty Drano could unclog - that's more like it.

Mistake or not, being stuck with the wrong title is like hanging out with the wrong crowd. It contributes to an image. And in politics, image is everything.